1st Nebraska Infantry/Cavalry

huskerblitz

Major
Joined
Jun 8, 2013
Location
Nebraska
1st Nebraska Infantry Flag.jpg

1st Nebraska Cavalry Flag.JPG



Service
When the war started, U.S. Regular Army troops were withdrawn from Fort Kearny and Fort Randall to serve in more threatened areas, but at the increased risk to Nebraska settlers from Indian attacks. The Federal government requested that the Nebraska Territory form one volunteer regiment, with some companies supposed to stay behind to protect the territory. The territorial legislature met in special session in Omaha, and agreed to raise the requested local defense force. Thus, the 1st Regiment, Nebraska Volunteer Infantry was organized at Omaha, between June 11 and July 21, 1861, with the future governor of Nebraska and the Wyoming Territory, John Milton Thayer, as its first colonel. However, the promise was reneged, and the regiment was sent eastward in August to fight the Confederacy.[1]

Serving in the forces under Ulysses S. Grant, the 1st Nebraska Infantry participated in the successful attack on Fort Donelson in Tennessee and then fought at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862. It then participated in several minor engagements in Missouri and Arkansas. The regiment was redesignated the 1st Regiment Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry on November 6, 1863. It was transferred to the frontier to keep the Plains Indians in check. It was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion Nebraska Veteran Volunteer Cavalry in 1865, and mustered out of the Union Army in 1866.[2]

Total strength and casualties
A total of 1370 men served in the 1st Nebraska Infantry/Cavalry.[3]

Commanders
Colonel John Milton Thayer
Lieutenant Colonel William McCord (commanded at the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh)
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Livingston (commanded at the siege of Corinth)
 
First Nebraska Cavalry
NEBRASKA
(3-YEARS)
(formerly 1st Infantry)

First Nebraska Cavalry. -- Cols., John M. Thayer, Robert R.
Livingston; Lieut.-Cols., Hiram P. Dowans, William D. McCord,
Robert R. Livingston, William Baumer, Majs., William D.
McCord, Robert R. Livingston, William Baumer, Allen Blacker,
George Armstrong, Thomas J. Majors.

This regiment, recruited from the territory at large,
rendezvoused at Omaha and was there mustered into the U. S.
service by companies, from June 11 to July 21, 1861, as the
1st Nebraska infantry, for a term of three years. By Special
Orders, No. 278, headquarters Department of Missouri, Oct. 11,
1863, it was changed to cavalry and designated the 1st
Nebraska cavalry.

The original members (except veterans) were mustered out at
Omaha Aug. 24-25, 1864, and the organization, composed of
veterans and recruits, continued in service. By authority of
the war department, the 1st battalion Nebraska veteran cavalry
(four companies) was consolidated with it July 18, 1865, and
the consolidated force was designated the 1st regiment
Nebraska veteran cavalry. It was mustered out at Omaha July
1, 1866, after a total period of service of nearly five years.

The 1st battalion, under command of Col. Thayer embarked at
Omaha for St. Joseph, Mo., July 30, 1861. From St. Joseph it
moved to St. Louis and thence to Pilot Knob where it was
joined Aug. 15 by the remainder of the regiment.

It served at various points in Missouri until Feb., 1862, its
winter quarters being established at Georgetown, Mo., from
which point it engaged in scouting after bushwhackers, in
expeditions to Warrensburg and Milford, Mo., and in the
skirmishing and hard marches which resulted in the capture of
about 1,300 Confederates who were on their way to join Gen.
Price's army.

On Feb. 2, 1862, it was ordered to Tennessee and arrived at
Fort Henry on the 11th, whence it moved to Fort Donelson on
the 13th. It was assigned to Gen. Wallace's (3rd) division,
Col. Thayer being in command of the 3rd brigade, to which it
was attached, and Lieut.-Col. McCord commanding the regiment.

Says Col. Thayer, in his report of the action on the 15th
speaking of the 1st Neb.: "I am pleased to be able to say that
every officer and soldier behaved very gallantly throughout. *
* * I cannot omit to speak in high terms of the soldierly
bearing and efficient conduct of Lieut.-Col. McCord and Maj.
Livingston during the engagement."

Gen. Wallace said: "Too much praise cannot be given Lieut.-
Col. McCord and his sturdy regiment."

During the last sally of the enemy, Lieut. Wood's artillery
company and the 1st Neb. sustained and repulsed the attack of
three regiments of infantry and a squadron of horse. They met
the storm without a man flinching, and drove the enemy back in
confusion. Though subjected to a hot fire for nearly an hour,
the enemy fired too high and the regiment lost only 3 killed
and 7 wounded.

After the surrender of Fort. Donelson the regiment returned to
Fort Henry, whence it moved March 13 to Crump's landing. On
April 7 it was again actively engaged at Shiloh in the second
day's fight, where it once more rendered glorious service and
received the highest praise from Gen. Wallace for its bravery
and gallantry.

Says Col. Thayer: "Nobly did the 1st Neb. sustain its
reputation, well earned on the field of Donelson. Its
progress was onward during the whole day, in face of a galling
fire of the enemy, moving on without flinching, at one time
being an hour and a half in front of their battery, receiving
and returning its fire, its conduct was most excellent." The
loss of the regiment in this battle was 4 men killed, 5
officers and 17 men wounded, 2 men missing.

The regiment next participated in the advance upon and siege
of Corinth, after which it was ordered to Memphis and arrived
there June 17. A week later it embarked for Helena, Ark., and
on its arrival went into camp on Graveyard hill. Here it was
engaged in several scouts and expeditions until Oct. 5, when
it moved to Sulphur springs, Mo., and at the close of the
month marched to Pilot Knob and encamped.

On Nov. 2 it moved to Patterson, Mo., where it performed
fatigue duty on the fortifications and shared in several
expeditions. During the remainder of the winter the 1st
engaged in many severe marches with Gen. Davidson's forces to
various points in Missouri and Arkansas, and on March 11, 1863
was ordered to Cape Girardeau.

It was active here in April, during the attack of Gen.
Marmaduke, and later followed in the pursuit, being engaged at
Chalk bluff and St. Francis River. Returning to Cape
Girardeau, it remained there on guard, picket and fatigue duty
until Aug. 28 when it moved to St. Louis and was quartered at
Camp Gamble until Nov. 1.

While here the regiment was recruited to the full complement
of a cavalry regiment and was changed to that arm of the
service as already mentioned. Having been mounted and
equipped during Nov., 1863, it was assigned to a brigade
commanded by Col. Livingston, who was in charge of the
Batesville district of Arkansas.

The command arrived at Batesville on Dec. 25, and was engaged
in scouting and picket duty until Jan. 18, 1864, when it
assisted in the capture of a detachment of the enemy on Black
River. The next day it charged into the town of Jacksonport,
Ark. where a number of Confederates were killed and some
prisoners taken.

Soon after a detachment of the regiment was engaged in a three
days' running fight with a force of the enemy under Col.
Freeman in the Sycamore Mountains, severely punishing them.
On Feb. 11 it went on a scout to Pocahontas and on April 23
proceeded to Jacksonport, where on the next day it had a sharp
skirmish with the enemy including a running fight of 7 miles.

It continued scouting and skirmishing in this vicinity until
May 25, when it moved to Devall's Bluff, where it arrived May
30. In the summer of this year the veterans went home on 30
days' furlough and on the expiration of their furlough the
regiment was assigned to duty in Nebraska with headquarters at
Fort Kearny.

In Sept., 1864, a detachment of the regiment went on a scout
after hostile Indians on the Republican and Solomon forks of
the Kansas River, during which it marched 800 miles in 23
days.

The remainder of its term of service was by detachments at
different points in Nebraska in scouting and escort duty,
guarding the overland mail and stage route, and engaging in
frequent skirmishes with bands of hostile Indians.

The welcome order to proceed to Omaha for muster-out was
received June 10, 1866, and the final muster-out took place
there on July 1.

The regiment marched during its term of service over 9,000
miles and including transportation by water and rail traveled
about 15,000 miles. While the war of the rebellion was in
progress it rendered faithful service on many a hard fought
field.

When the war closed it hastened to the protection of Nebraska
which was threatened with disastrous raids by hostile Indians,
and engaged in this arduous service for more than a year.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 4, p. 454

*************************************************************************

Shiloh after battle report:

Report of Lieut. Col. William D. McCord, First Nebraska Infantry.

HDQRS. FIRST REGT. NEBRASKA VOLUNTEERS, In the
Field, near Pittsburg, Tenn., April 10, 1862.
CAPT.: I have the honor to present the following report of the part
taken by the First Regt. Nebraska Volunteers in the battle of April
7, 1862, at Pittsburg:

On Sunday, April 6, at about 12 o'clock m., my regiment was moved
by order of Col. Thayer from camp 2 miles west of Crump's
Landing, with a view to connect with the forces under Gen. Grant at
Pittsburg. We reached the encampment of our troops near Pittsburg
about 7 o'clock p. m. Sunday night and bivouacked under a heavy
rain-storm. Company G, Capt. McConihe commanding, was thrown
forward as a picked about 200 yards in advance of the regiment. About
5.30 a. m. the regiment was moved forward in support of Capt.
Thompson's Ninth battery Indiana light Artillery, occupying a position
on its right in an open field immediately in front of a deep ravine and
a high ridge beyond. After a short engagement with three of the
enemy's guns posted on the ridge in our front we were advanced, by
order of Brig.-Gen. Thayer, driving the enemy before us, and
forming a new line of battle one-half mile forward, at which place the
enemy opened a most terrific fire of grape and canister on us, killing 1
sergeant and wounding 1 lieutenant and 1 color guard. The regiment
was ordered to lie down, or we could not possibly have escaped as well
as we did. The enemy was again dislodged. Again we advanced, moving
to the right, and forming a new line of battle just under the
brow of hill, within about 150 yards of a large battery of the enemy,
which, owing to our position, did us no harm whatever.

The enemy's guns being silence, we were by Gen. Thayer again
ordered forward, and formed our line in a field, our right resting on the
left of the Twenty-third Indiana. There our regiment opened fire upon
a body of the enemy who were charging on our line and repulsed them.
Again we were ordered forward, and formed a line in a new direction
(the enemy having tried to flank us on our left), opened fire upon the
enemy's forces, who were advancing in support of one of their batteries.
Here we received the most destructive fire that had yet been opened
upon us, losing 3 killed and quite a number wounded, amongst whom
were Capt. McConihe, Lieut.'s Weatherwax, Gillette, Curran, and
a number of our non-commissioned officers and privates. The enemy's
fire was returned until the men became short of ammunition, when we
were relieved by the Seventy-sixth Ohio, Col. Woods, our regiment
marching through his, by the right of companies to the rear into column.
Col. Woods' regiment then took our position, while we retired to a
ravine in our rear and replenished our ammunition. The movements of
both regiments were conducted and executed as orderly as could be done
on the parade ground. After refilling our cartridge-boxes we again
advanced to our old position. My regiment was in the action from 5.30
a. m. until 5 p. m., and I am proud to say that it steadily advanced and
never receded an inch, being at one time alone engaged with one of the
enemy's batteries for about twenty minutes.

I cannot conclude without expressing myself in the warmest terms in
praise of the gallant conduct of the following officers: Maj. R. R.
Livingston; First Lieut. F. L. Cramer, acting adjutant; First
Lieut. N. J. Sharp, commanding, and Second Lieut. J. McF.
Hagood, of Company A; Capt. Baumer, commanding, and First and
Second Lieut.'s Bimmerman and Lubbes, of Company B; Capt.
Maj.'s, commanding, and First and Second Lieut.'s Berger and
Ivory of Company C; First Lieut. Lee P. Gillette, commanding, and
Second Lieut. Provost, Company D; First Lieut. S. M. Curran,
commanding Company E; First Lieut. J. P. Murphy, commanding,
and Second Lieut. Fred. Smith, Company F; Capt. John
McConihe, commanding, and First and Second Lieut.'s Weatherwax
and Hance, Company G; First Lieut. L. M. Sawyer, commanding,
and Second Lieut. Clarke Company H; Second Lieut. Emory
Peck, commanding Company I, and Second Lieut. Edward
Donovan, commanding Company K, together with the non
commissioned officers and privates engaged in this hard-fought battle.
Particularly do I present to your notice Maj. R. R. Livingston, and
First Lieut. F. L. Cramer, acting adjutant of the regiment, whose
efficiency in carrying orders and otherwise aiding me is worthy of all
praise; also Dr. William McClellan, assistant surgeon, who most
promptly and kindly attended to the wounded, rendering them the most
signal service, and receiving all the most glowing encomiums for his
celerity and skill, rendering aid alike to friend and foe.

Our casualties are as follows.*
I have the honor to be, colonel, your most obedient servant.

WM. D. McCORD,
Lieut.-Col., Comdg. First Regiments Nebraska Volunteers.

S. A. STRICKLAND,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Second Brigade.

Source: Official Records: Series I. Vol. 10. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 10

**********************************************************************

Report of Col. R. R. Livingston, First Nebraska Infantry, of the pursuit
of Marmaduke.

SAINT LOUIS, April 30., 1863.
CAPT.: Having been instructed, on the night of the 25th instant, by
order (copy of which I inclose, marked A.), to take charge of the
Thirty-seventh Regt. Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Brown's company (G),
Twenty-third Regiments Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and 20 men, under
Lieut. Ewing, Twenty-third Iowa, to see them shipped without delay to
re-enforce the post of Cape Girardeau, then return to this post immediately
after the attack had ceased, I have the honor to reports as follows;

We arrived at Cape Girardeau on Sunday, 26th instant, at 2.50 p. m., just
as the firing on both sides ceased for that day. I turned over my and was
ordered by him to move with the companies of the Thirty-seventh Illinois
Infantry, under Capt. [Charles W.] Hawes, to report to Lieut.-Col.
[William] Baumer, at Fort B, as the enemy were attempting to flank our
right. Shortly afterward I received an order to take change of my own
regiment; but, finding the conduct of Lieut.-Col. Baumer, of the First
Nebraska, all that could be desired, I, in the spirit of a soldier,
permitted him to retain the command he had fought so gallantly previous to
my arrival. Fearing a night attack, I went with Gen. McNeil, and arranged
a system of signals with two gunboats, then lying in the Mississippi River,
opposite the town, by which they could direct their fire where it would be
most effective. Gen. McNeil, at my suggestion, also sent for
re-enforcements to Gen. Asboth, commanding at Columbus, Ky., whose
promptness in forwarding the troops is deserving of all praise.

When daylight broke, the enemy had not appeared before our pickets,
and two detachments of cavalry were sent out to feel them; but it was
not before 11.30 a. m., the 27th instant, that the retrograde movement
of the enemy toward Bloomfield was definitely ascertained; and at 2 p.
m. two regiments of cavalry (First Wisconsin and Second Missouri),
four guns of Welfley's battery, two mountain howitzers, and two
companies of Col. McLane's Missouri Militia moved out in pursuit,
on the Bloomfield road. Arriving near Black Creek, the advance under
Maj. [William H.] Torrey, First Wisconsin, drove a small force of the
enemy from the bridge, which they had commenced to destroy, by tearing up
plank and piling dry stakes in the bridges, preparatory to firing it. The
bridge was speedily repaired, and we pushed on to the junction of the
Jackson and Bloomfield roads, where was met the advance of General
Vandever's column. There the column halted. Myself and a small party pushed
forward to the bridge across White Water, about 1 1/2 miles distant, and
found the last span destroyed, the stringers being cut, the plank thrown in
the river, and the up-stream post on the last bent cut in such a manner as
to render it useless. To my great surprise, no further progress was made
that day, our forces being ordered into camp at 6 p. m., with a demoralized
and flying enemy only one hour ahead of us.

I left camp the next morning at 7.10 o'clock, at which time our forces
had not yet pushed forward; and feeling convinced that so tardy a
pursuit would certainly be a vain one, I returned to this post with all
dispatch, knowing my services were needed here.

I would respectfully state that the enemy were confident of carrying and
holding Cape Girardeau; that their battle cry was, "Hurrah now for
McNeil!" and that, in their conversations with the peaceful citizens, they
asked if Fayetteville had been attacked, stating that place and the Cape
were to be struck the same time, and that on Sunday, 3d of May next, Price,
with 30,000 men, would attack Jefferson City, after which the forces at
the Cape and that place were to make a combined attack on Saint Louis.

I refrain from giving you the particulars of the battle or the losses on
either side, as competent authority will soon furnish the official report.

I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. R. LIVINGTON,
Col. 1st Regt. Nebraska Vol. Infty., Cmdg. Post, Saint Louis, Mo.

Capt. H. C. FILLEBROWN,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen., District of Saint Louis, Mo.

[Inclosure A.]

SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 91., HDQRS. SAINT LOUIS DISTRICT,
Saint Louis, Mo., April 25, 1863.

* * * * * * *

XVIII. Col. R. R. Livingston, First Nebraska Infantry Volunteers, will
proceed to Cape Girardeau, Mo. He will take command of all troops going
down to that point. Upon his arrival he will turn over the troops to the
command of Brig. Gen. John McNeil.

By order of Brig.-Gen. Davidson;

HENRY C. FILLEBROWN,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.

Source: Official Records
CHAP. XXXIV.] MARMADUKE'S EXPEDITION INTO MISSOURI. PAGE 266-32
[Series I. Vol. 22. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 32.]
Information provided by @east tennessee roots
Nebraska and the Civil War
 
Nebraska and the Civil War: Why it Matters

"Nebraska has a rich Civil War legacy, according to James E. Potter, senior research historian at the Nebraska State Historical Society. Potter and Edith Robbins edited the letters of Nebraska soldier August Scherneckau, published in 2007 by the University of Oklahoma Press as Marching with the First Nebraska: A Civil War Diary. Written by a German immigrant who served with the First Nebraska Volunteers from 1862 through 1865, the diary is the most important firsthand account by a Nebraska Civil War soldier that has yet come to light. The book is available from the NSHS Landmark Stores. Potter is also the author of Standing Firmly by the Flag: Nebraska Territory, the Civil War, and the Coming of Statehood, 1861-1867, published in 2012 by the University of Nebraska Press."

http://www.blog-nebraskahistory.org/2011/07/nebraska-and-the-civil-war-why-the-story-matters/
 
The regiment was redesignated the 1st Regiment Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry on November 6, 1863. At that same time they did receive new uniforms:

"Today the first cavalry equipment was handed out. The boys appear in the jackets with the yellow stripes. We also received the crossed sabers of the dragoons instead of the bugle, which the infantry wears on its hats." -- August Scherneckau from his diary of November 6, 1863.

But it was mixed-matched. Scherneckau didn't receive a new jacket because he had a brand new infantry coat. He also didn't get a pair of boots because they none in his size remaining.
 
"While the Skirmish at Grand Prairie had no material effect upon the course of the war and rates only a few pages in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, it is justly remembered as part of Nebraska’s
Civil War history. More Nebraska troops were captured by the enemy in this skirmish and few, if any, of
Nebraska’s Civil War soldiers suffered more hardship, fear, and frustration than did Lieutenant Polock’s little band of First Nebraska orphans in Arkansas and Missouri that summer and fall of 1864"

Note: The article pulls up a PDF.
http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2000OrphanDetachmt.pdf
 
Victor Vifquain, who settled in Nebraska in 1858, won the Medal of Honor for his participation in an attack on the Confederate Fort Blakely, Alabama. In 1891 he became the Adjutant General of Nebraska

Victor Vifquain (1836-1904), a native of Belgium, was one of the first Nebraskans to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, first authorized for heroic action by military personnel during the Civil War. Vifquain was awarded the medal on June 8, 1865, for action at Fort Blakely, Alabama, on April 9 of that year.

At sixteen Vifquain was sent to the U.S. as a student. About 1857 he settled permanently in America in the Blue River valley of Saline County, Nebraska. He did not wait for Nebraska units to be formed when the Civil War broke out in 1861, but instead enlisted in the Fifty-third New York Infantry (disbanded before it saw action).

Before he reentered the army, Vifquain and three companions infiltrated the Confederate lines at Richmond in the spring of 1862 in an unsuccessful scheme to kidnap President Jefferson Davis. In June 1862 Vifquain was sent to Illinois, appointed adjutant of the Ninety-seventh Illinois by the governor there, and reached the rank of brevet brigadier general. In 1865, as the war entered its final days, Vifquain had a second chance to capture Davis. Suspecting that Davis was to be on a specific train, Vifquain captured it near Selma, Alabama, but the Confederate president was not on board.

Following the war Vifquain resumed management of his agricultural enterprises. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1867 and in 1871 was a member of the Nebraska Constitutional Convention. He established the Daily State Democrat in Lincoln in 1879. In 1886 Vifquain was appointed U.S. Consul to Colombia by President Grover Cleveland and later served in several diplomatic posts in Panama. In 1891 he was appointed adjutant general of Nebraska by Governor James E. Boyd and in 1892 again ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

He went on active duty as a lieutenant colonel and adjutant of the Third Nebraska Infantry under Col. William Jennings Bryan during the Spanish-American War and became regimental commander when Bryan resigned. Vifquain took the regiment to Cuba as an occupational force following the war. After the peace treaty Vifquain retired to his home in Lincoln. He died there on January 7, 1904, while engaged in writing his memoirs.
http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/timeline/vifquain_victor.htm
 
Mosby in Nebraska: "These Fences Must Come Down!"
John S. Mosby (1833-1916), the "Gray Ghost," commanded a Confederate cavalry unit during the Civil War. After the war he served as U.S. consul to Hong Kong (1878-1885) and later worked as an attorney for the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1901, at sixty-seven years of age, he became special agent for the General Land Office in the U.S. Department of the Interior. He was charged with investigating violations of federal land laws in three districts of Colorado and Nebraska where ranchers had long been accustomed to fencing in large tracts of public land.

In August 1902 Mosby was sent on temporary duty to Alliance in Box Butte County. The Alliance Herald on August 8, 1902, reported: "There is present in the little city of Alliance today a man who, during the four long, memorable and cruel years of carnage and bloodshed between the sections from 1861 to 1865 played as prominent a part and did as much toward making history as any other one man, save, perhaps, U.S. Grant or Robt. E. Lee. This man is none other than the redoubtable Col. John S. Mosby, of Confederate guerilla fame."

A reporter from the Herald called on Mosby at his Alliance hotel and "enjoyed immensely an hour's visit with the gray-haired old veteran. The Mosby of today doesn't impress one as the Mosby of history. About the battle-scarred old trooper there is nothing that smacks of ferocity, nothing to indicate the daring, dashing cavalry commander, who, with never more than three hundred men, neutralized and held at bay for two years from forty to fifty thousand splendidly armed and equipped federal soldiers. But instead there is every indication of the plain, unostentatious, intelligent old gentleman with a mind as vivid and active as in the years of long ago, and a bearing as pleasing and manner as courteous as a diplomat."

On its editorial page the Herald said: "There is no occasion for uneasiness. Those who have fences around government land were long since apprised of the fact that those fences must come down, and Col. Mosby is here in accordance with the wishes of the interior department to see that the law is complied with. His mode of procedure will be, as the Herald understands it, to notify parties who have fenced in any part of the public domain, to remove said fencing within sixty days after notification. The immediate cause of Col. Mosby's presence in Alliance is a speech delivered at the cattlemen's convention held in this city last February, by President S. P. Delatour, in which the statement was made that in the Alliance and Sidney districts there were over 6,000,000 acres of government land under fence. But be that as it may, there's nothing to be made by protesting against the inevitable and growling about the hardships and inconveniences that will accrue. Uncle Sam says these fences must come down, and that settles it."

Mosby's mission couldn't help but ruffle feathers in western Nebraska, and his criticism of Nebraska's two U.S. senators, Joseph H. Millard and Charles H. Dietrich, for allegedly aiding the cattlemen, caused President Theodore Roosevelt to bring Mosby back to Washington by mid-December. Roosevelt's administration prosecuted the worst offenders among the cattlemen without Mosby, who in April 1903 was assigned to the Land Office in Montgomery, Alabama, to investigate trespassing in the federal pine forest there.
http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/timeline/mosby_in_nebraska.htm
 
Historians preserve legacies of Civil War veterans who helped build Nebraska

By Steve Liewer / World-Herald staff writer | Posted: Monday, May 25, 2015 12:30 am

The unadorned grave of Dr. J.W. Thomas lies in the middle of Weeping Water’s Oakwood Cemetery, the final resting place of a pioneer surgeon, druggist and civic leader who died in 1908.

This Memorial Day, a small American flag will be stuck in the ground next to his headstone, in honor of his service with the 77th Ohio Infantry Regiment for nine months during the Civil War before he was wounded in battle and discharged.

On modern Memorial Days, we may mourn the half million American fallen of World War II. Or the names etched in black stone on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Or the 4,500 more recently dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Civil War veterans like Thomas, though, are sometimes overlooked because there are few if any people today who actually knew them.

The territory of Nebraska contributed 3,157 soldiers, and 239 died in battle, in accidents or from disease. An estimated 100,000 more moved to Nebraska in the boom years after the war, lured by the government’s offer of free homesteads and by the new transcontinental railroad. About 20,000 are buried here. The last one died in 1948.

Read the full article here
 
Thanks @Barrycdog for originally posting this.

http://www.omaha.com/news/military/...cle_52b55246-41c9-5230-833d-751c241aed26.html

Civil War veterans in Nebraska: These stories ended in the Midlands, not in war
By Steve Liewer / World-Herald staff writer

Civil War veterans are sometimes overlooked because there are few if any people today who actually knew them.


The territory of Nebraska contributed 3,157 soldiers, and 239 died in battle, in accidents or from disease. An estimated 100,000 more moved to Nebraska in the boom years after the war, lured by the government’s offer of free homesteads and by the new transcontinental railroad. About 20,000 are buried here. The last one died in 1948.
 
Nebraska supplied roughly 3,000 soldiers out of 9,000 eligible men during the conflict and Nebraska is also the final resting place to over 12,000 veterans of the war (some estimates I've seen are as high as 17,000) and the GAR was very active.

The first post I want to make is a link to a sight some of you may find interesting. It contains links to images of known GAR monuments located in Nebraska.
http://www.civilwarmuseumnc.org/monuments.html
 
I should also note the photo on Scherneckau's diary is not actually him but of Corp. James Hutton of Co. E. Unfortunately, he was killed accidentally May 7, 1864 while on picket outside Jacksonport, Arkansas,
 
I am new here and just saw your post on the 1st Nebraska. I have the book Marching with the 1st Nebraska and I found it very interesting. My wife had two 2nd cousins who served in this unit. They were brothers; the sons of James A Jackson and Malinda Burns. Their great grandfather, David Jackson, had come from Ireland and settled in Clover, SC in 1770. He served in the New Acquisition Militia during the American Revolution. He had 10 sons and since most of their descendants stayed in the South, there were only a few who ended up fighting for the North.

Martin B. Jackson was the oldest of the two by 4 years. He enlisted on July 17, 1861. He transferred to the 1st Nebraska Cavalry, Company I on November 6, 1863. His younger brother, Lewis C. Jackson, enlisted on August 17, 1864.

Lewis was killed in action almost two months later on October 13, 1864 near Miller’s Ranch, Nebraska in an engagement with Indians. Below is a brief report of the fight.

“Captain H. H. Ribble, commanding at Mullahla's, also sending out fifteen men to join Captain Ivory on Plum Creek. Captain Ribble's detachment met sixty Indian warriors; 2 of our men killed instantly; seven succeeded in reaching Plum Creek; the other six being cut off by forty warriors, dismounted and fought their way back to Mullahla's Station, sheltering themselves behind their horses. Indians lost 3 killed, 1 of them a chief who spoke broken English, and several others wounded; our loss, 2 killed, 2 wounded, 2 horses killed and 10 disabled by wounds.”
Source: War of the Rebellion Records Operations Against Indians in Nebraska and Colorado, 1864, Series 1, Volume: XLI, Part I, page 830.

According to the files I have on him, Martin was placed on fatigue duty for 90 days in November 1864 for “neglecting his horse”. It seems obvious to me that he was in mourning for his brother since he had just been killed. I do not know if Martin was one of the men with his brother Lewis when he was killed. The Captain of company I, Captain H. H. Ribble, wrote a letter dated November 17th, 1864 to his superior asking that Martin be removed from the post. Martin deserted after the war on September 5, 1865. The charges of desertion were removed by Congress in 1889 and his discharge certificate was issued by the War Department on April 12, 1892.

I have uploaded a news article published on September 25, 1913 in The Page County Democrat about Martin returning to Page, Iowa.
 
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Thank you for posting this! Scherneckau's diary is the best source for what was happening in the 1st Nebraska. Potter's other book, Standing Firmly With the Flag is also good on the subject.

Welcome to the site!
 
Taken from the Nebraska History News newsletter, Vol. 65/No. 1/Jan-Feb-Mar 2012

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Nebraska Civil War Survivor Turns 150

While the last of Nebraska’s Civil War soldiers is long gone, they left behind some fascinating reminders of their service and sacrifice. The First Nebraska Volunteer was published at Georgetown, Missouri, while the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry was stationed there during the fall and winter of 1861-62. The original Vol. 1, No.1 of the newspaper, printed on Friday, January 31, 1862, is displayed in the Nebraska Joins the Union exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. The Nebraska soldiers had found the local newspaper office abandoned, in this case because the editor had joined the Union army as a private “at the handsome salary of $13 per month, believing more money could be made by doing so than editing a paper in Georgetown, Missouri.” Lt. Charles E. Provost, a former printer with the Omaha Nebraskian, decided to fire up the press to publish a news sheet for his comrades. He was following a custom that continued during the war, particularly when Union armies began to occupy Confederate territory. Soldiers produced camp newspapers on the equipment left behind in the local newspaper office after the editor had fled.

Although The First Nebraska Volunteer was smaller than a regular newspaper, it conformed to the journalistic standards of the day. Much of the content was reprinted from prominent newspapers or magazines and not surprisingly emphasized war news. In the inaugural issue, the editor felt compelled to offer the customary “salutatory” outlining the paper’s goals. One of them was “to show the enemy ... that ‘The hireling hoards [sic] of the North’ have with them all the elements of Civilization, and the material to unchain the mighty engines of the mind and spread profusely the light of refinement upon the darkness of barbarism, revolution, and terror.” Another was to show loyal Missourians that the soldiers had not come to wage war upon them or their institutions but “to punish the rebellious and bring them once more to the acknowledgment of the protecting powers of the federal government.”

The second page was “local” news, in this case a review of the regiment’s travels since leaving Nebraska, a list of the officers, a record of soldiers “died and discharged from the First Nebraska,” and a poem by Chaplain Thomas W. Tipton entitled “Song of the Goddess of Nebraska.” An editorial praised the people of Nebraska Territory for “responding to their country’s call,” and urged other “Friends of the Union” there to enlist in the regiment, which was already under strength only six months into its service. The editor no doubt expected that the soldiers would send issues of the paper to their family and friendsback home.

The paper also included a “letters” column in which “A Slandered Husband” in the First Nebraska justified “flirting” with Missouri ladies to demonstrate how the soldiers’ wives at home “have trained us up to civility and gallantry.” Another correspondent wondered whether “Slandered Husband” had written that “very silly apology for flirting” only after his wife arrived in Georgetown and “dictated it to you.” At this stage of the war, it was not uncommon for wives to join their soldier husbands in camp between battles.

Alas, the first issue of The First Nebraska Volunteer was also the last. By the next scheduled publication date of Friday, February 7, the regiment was well on its way to join Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Union army in Tennessee. The regiment left Georgetown on February 3, 1862, boarded a train at Jefferson City, and then sailed down the Mississippi from St. Louis by steamboat. On the afternoon of February 14, the First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry joined Grant’s army then besieging Fort Donelson, a Confederate stronghold on the Cumberland River. The next day the Nebraska soldiers would fight in their first major battle and help Grant win the first significant Union victory of the Civil War.

—James E. Potter, Senior Research Historian
 
First Nebraska Cavalry
NEBRASKA
(3-YEARS)
(formerly 1st Infantry)

First Nebraska Cavalry. -- Cols., John M. Thayer, Robert R.
Livingston; Lieut.-Cols., Hiram P. Dowans, William D. McCord,
Robert R. Livingston, William Baumer, Majs., William D.
McCord, Robert R. Livingston, William Baumer, Allen Blacker,
George Armstrong, Thomas J. Majors.

This regiment, recruited from the territory at large,
rendezvoused at Omaha and was there mustered into the U. S.
service by companies, from June 11 to July 21, 1861, as the
1st Nebraska infantry, for a term of three years. By Special
Orders, No. 278, headquarters Department of Missouri, Oct. 11,
1863, it was changed to cavalry and designated the 1st
Nebraska cavalry.

The original members (except veterans) were mustered out at
Omaha Aug. 24-25, 1864, and the organization, composed of
veterans and recruits, continued in service. By authority of
the war department, the 1st battalion Nebraska veteran cavalry
(four companies) was consolidated with it July 18, 1865, and
the consolidated force was designated the 1st regiment
Nebraska veteran cavalry. It was mustered out at Omaha July
1, 1866, after a total period of service of nearly five years.

The 1st battalion, under command of Col. Thayer embarked at
Omaha for St. Joseph, Mo., July 30, 1861. From St. Joseph it
moved to St. Louis and thence to Pilot Knob where it was
joined Aug. 15 by the remainder of the regiment.

It served at various points in Missouri until Feb., 1862, its
winter quarters being established at Georgetown, Mo., from
which point it engaged in scouting after bushwhackers, in
expeditions to Warrensburg and Milford, Mo., and in the
skirmishing and hard marches which resulted in the capture of
about 1,300 Confederates who were on their way to join Gen.
Price's army.

On Feb. 2, 1862, it was ordered to Tennessee and arrived at
Fort Henry on the 11th, whence it moved to Fort Donelson on
the 13th. It was assigned to Gen. Wallace's (3rd) division,
Col. Thayer being in command of the 3rd brigade, to which it
was attached, and Lieut.-Col. McCord commanding the regiment.

Says Col. Thayer, in his report of the action on the 15th
speaking of the 1st Neb.: "I am pleased to be able to say that
every officer and soldier behaved very gallantly throughout. *
* * I cannot omit to speak in high terms of the soldierly
bearing and efficient conduct of Lieut.-Col. McCord and Maj.
Livingston during the engagement."

Gen. Wallace said: "Too much praise cannot be given Lieut.-
Col. McCord and his sturdy regiment."

During the last sally of the enemy, Lieut. Wood's artillery
company and the 1st Neb. sustained and repulsed the attack of
three regiments of infantry and a squadron of horse. They met
the storm without a man flinching, and drove the enemy back in
confusion. Though subjected to a hot fire for nearly an hour,
the enemy fired too high and the regiment lost only 3 killed
and 7 wounded.

After the surrender of Fort. Donelson the regiment returned to
Fort Henry, whence it moved March 13 to Crump's landing. On
April 7 it was again actively engaged at Shiloh in the second
day's fight, where it once more rendered glorious service and
received the highest praise from Gen. Wallace for its bravery
and gallantry.

Says Col. Thayer: "Nobly did the 1st Neb. sustain its
reputation, well earned on the field of Donelson. Its
progress was onward during the whole day, in face of a galling
fire of the enemy, moving on without flinching, at one time
being an hour and a half in front of their battery, receiving
and returning its fire, its conduct was most excellent." The
loss of the regiment in this battle was 4 men killed, 5
officers and 17 men wounded, 2 men missing.

The regiment next participated in the advance upon and siege
of Corinth, after which it was ordered to Memphis and arrived
there June 17. A week later it embarked for Helena, Ark., and
on its arrival went into camp on Graveyard hill. Here it was
engaged in several scouts and expeditions until Oct. 5, when
it moved to Sulphur springs, Mo., and at the close of the
month marched to Pilot Knob and encamped.

On Nov. 2 it moved to Patterson, Mo., where it performed
fatigue duty on the fortifications and shared in several
expeditions. During the remainder of the winter the 1st
engaged in many severe marches with Gen. Davidson's forces to
various points in Missouri and Arkansas, and on March 11, 1863
was ordered to Cape Girardeau.

It was active here in April, during the attack of Gen.
Marmaduke, and later followed in the pursuit, being engaged at
Chalk bluff and St. Francis River. Returning to Cape
Girardeau, it remained there on guard, picket and fatigue duty
until Aug. 28 when it moved to St. Louis and was quartered at
Camp Gamble until Nov. 1.

While here the regiment was recruited to the full complement
of a cavalry regiment and was changed to that arm of the
service as already mentioned. Having been mounted and
equipped during Nov., 1863, it was assigned to a brigade
commanded by Col. Livingston, who was in charge of the
Batesville district of Arkansas.

The command arrived at Batesville on Dec. 25, and was engaged
in scouting and picket duty until Jan. 18, 1864, when it
assisted in the capture of a detachment of the enemy on Black
River. The next day it charged into the town of Jacksonport,
Ark. where a number of Confederates were killed and some
prisoners taken.

Soon after a detachment of the regiment was engaged in a three
days' running fight with a force of the enemy under Col.
Freeman in the Sycamore Mountains, severely punishing them.
On Feb. 11 it went on a scout to Pocahontas and on April 23
proceeded to Jacksonport, where on the next day it had a sharp
skirmish with the enemy including a running fight of 7 miles.

It continued scouting and skirmishing in this vicinity until
May 25, when it moved to Devall's Bluff, where it arrived May
30. In the summer of this year the veterans went home on 30
days' furlough and on the expiration of their furlough the
regiment was assigned to duty in Nebraska with headquarters at
Fort Kearny.

In Sept., 1864, a detachment of the regiment went on a scout
after hostile Indians on the Republican and Solomon forks of
the Kansas River, during which it marched 800 miles in 23
days.

The remainder of its term of service was by detachments at
different points in Nebraska in scouting and escort duty,
guarding the overland mail and stage route, and engaging in
frequent skirmishes with bands of hostile Indians.

The welcome order to proceed to Omaha for muster-out was
received June 10, 1866, and the final muster-out took place
there on July 1.

The regiment marched during its term of service over 9,000
miles and including transportation by water and rail traveled
about 15,000 miles. While the war of the rebellion was in
progress it rendered faithful service on many a hard fought
field.

When the war closed it hastened to the protection of Nebraska
which was threatened with disastrous raids by hostile Indians,
and engaged in this arduous service for more than a year.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 4, p. 454

*************************************************************************

Shiloh after battle report:

Report of Lieut. Col. William D. McCord, First Nebraska Infantry.

HDQRS. FIRST REGT. NEBRASKA VOLUNTEERS, In the
Field, near Pittsburg, Tenn., April 10, 1862.
CAPT.: I have the honor to present the following report of the part
taken by the First Regt. Nebraska Volunteers in the battle of April
7, 1862, at Pittsburg:

On Sunday, April 6, at about 12 o'clock m., my regiment was moved
by order of Col. Thayer from camp 2 miles west of Crump's
Landing, with a view to connect with the forces under Gen. Grant at
Pittsburg. We reached the encampment of our troops near Pittsburg
about 7 o'clock p. m. Sunday night and bivouacked under a heavy
rain-storm. Company G, Capt. McConihe commanding, was thrown
forward as a picked about 200 yards in advance of the regiment. About
5.30 a. m. the regiment was moved forward in support of Capt.
Thompson's Ninth battery Indiana light Artillery, occupying a position
on its right in an open field immediately in front of a deep ravine and
a high ridge beyond. After a short engagement with three of the
enemy's guns posted on the ridge in our front we were advanced, by
order of Brig.-Gen. Thayer, driving the enemy before us, and
forming a new line of battle one-half mile forward, at which place the
enemy opened a most terrific fire of grape and canister on us, killing 1
sergeant and wounding 1 lieutenant and 1 color guard. The regiment
was ordered to lie down, or we could not possibly have escaped as well
as we did. The enemy was again dislodged. Again we advanced, moving
to the right, and forming a new line of battle just under the
brow of hill, within about 150 yards of a large battery of the enemy,
which, owing to our position, did us no harm whatever.

The enemy's guns being silence, we were by Gen. Thayer again
ordered forward, and formed our line in a field, our right resting on the
left of the Twenty-third Indiana. There our regiment opened fire upon
a body of the enemy who were charging on our line and repulsed them.
Again we were ordered forward, and formed a line in a new direction
(the enemy having tried to flank us on our left), opened fire upon the
enemy's forces, who were advancing in support of one of their batteries.
Here we received the most destructive fire that had yet been opened
upon us, losing 3 killed and quite a number wounded, amongst whom
were Capt. McConihe, Lieut.'s Weatherwax, Gillette, Curran, and
a number of our non-commissioned officers and privates. The enemy's
fire was returned until the men became short of ammunition, when we
were relieved by the Seventy-sixth Ohio, Col. Woods, our regiment
marching through his, by the right of companies to the rear into column.
Col. Woods' regiment then took our position, while we retired to a
ravine in our rear and replenished our ammunition. The movements of
both regiments were conducted and executed as orderly as could be done
on the parade ground. After refilling our cartridge-boxes we again
advanced to our old position. My regiment was in the action from 5.30
a. m. until 5 p. m., and I am proud to say that it steadily advanced and
never receded an inch, being at one time alone engaged with one of the
enemy's batteries for about twenty minutes.

I cannot conclude without expressing myself in the warmest terms in
praise of the gallant conduct of the following officers: Maj. R. R.
Livingston; First Lieut. F. L. Cramer, acting adjutant; First
Lieut. N. J. Sharp, commanding, and Second Lieut. J. McF.
Hagood, of Company A; Capt. Baumer, commanding, and First and
Second Lieut.'s Bimmerman and Lubbes, of Company B; Capt.
Maj.'s, commanding, and First and Second Lieut.'s Berger and
Ivory of Company C; First Lieut. Lee P. Gillette, commanding, and
Second Lieut. Provost, Company D; First Lieut. S. M. Curran,
commanding Company E; First Lieut. J. P. Murphy, commanding,
and Second Lieut. Fred. Smith, Company F; Capt. John
McConihe, commanding, and First and Second Lieut.'s Weatherwax
and Hance, Company G; First Lieut. L. M. Sawyer, commanding,
and Second Lieut. Clarke Company H; Second Lieut. Emory
Peck, commanding Company I, and Second Lieut. Edward
Donovan, commanding Company K, together with the non
commissioned officers and privates engaged in this hard-fought battle.
Particularly do I present to your notice Maj. R. R. Livingston, and
First Lieut. F. L. Cramer, acting adjutant of the regiment, whose
efficiency in carrying orders and otherwise aiding me is worthy of all
praise; also Dr. William McClellan, assistant surgeon, who most
promptly and kindly attended to the wounded, rendering them the most
signal service, and receiving all the most glowing encomiums for his
celerity and skill, rendering aid alike to friend and foe.

Our casualties are as follows.*
I have the honor to be, colonel, your most obedient servant.

WM. D. McCORD,
Lieut.-Col., Comdg. First Regiments Nebraska Volunteers.

S. A. STRICKLAND,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Second Brigade.

Source: Official Records: Series I. Vol. 10. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 10

**********************************************************************

Report of Col. R. R. Livingston, First Nebraska Infantry, of the pursuit
of Marmaduke.

SAINT LOUIS, April 30., 1863.
CAPT.: Having been instructed, on the night of the 25th instant, by
order (copy of which I inclose, marked A.), to take charge of the
Thirty-seventh Regt. Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Brown's company (G),
Twenty-third Regiments Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and 20 men, under
Lieut. Ewing, Twenty-third Iowa, to see them shipped without delay to
re-enforce the post of Cape Girardeau, then return to this post immediately
after the attack had ceased, I have the honor to reports as follows;

We arrived at Cape Girardeau on Sunday, 26th instant, at 2.50 p. m., just
as the firing on both sides ceased for that day. I turned over my and was
ordered by him to move with the companies of the Thirty-seventh Illinois
Infantry, under Capt. [Charles W.] Hawes, to report to Lieut.-Col.
[William] Baumer, at Fort B, as the enemy were attempting to flank our
right. Shortly afterward I received an order to take change of my own
regiment; but, finding the conduct of Lieut.-Col. Baumer, of the First
Nebraska, all that could be desired, I, in the spirit of a soldier,
permitted him to retain the command he had fought so gallantly previous to
my arrival. Fearing a night attack, I went with Gen. McNeil, and arranged
a system of signals with two gunboats, then lying in the Mississippi River,
opposite the town, by which they could direct their fire where it would be
most effective. Gen. McNeil, at my suggestion, also sent for
re-enforcements to Gen. Asboth, commanding at Columbus, Ky., whose
promptness in forwarding the troops is deserving of all praise.

When daylight broke, the enemy had not appeared before our pickets,
and two detachments of cavalry were sent out to feel them; but it was
not before 11.30 a. m., the 27th instant, that the retrograde movement
of the enemy toward Bloomfield was definitely ascertained; and at 2 p.
m. two regiments of cavalry (First Wisconsin and Second Missouri),
four guns of Welfley's battery, two mountain howitzers, and two
companies of Col. McLane's Missouri Militia moved out in pursuit,
on the Bloomfield road. Arriving near Black Creek, the advance under
Maj. [William H.] Torrey, First Wisconsin, drove a small force of the
enemy from the bridge, which they had commenced to destroy, by tearing up
plank and piling dry stakes in the bridges, preparatory to firing it. The
bridge was speedily repaired, and we pushed on to the junction of the
Jackson and Bloomfield roads, where was met the advance of General
Vandever's column. There the column halted. Myself and a small party pushed
forward to the bridge across White Water, about 1 1/2 miles distant, and
found the last span destroyed, the stringers being cut, the plank thrown in
the river, and the up-stream post on the last bent cut in such a manner as
to render it useless. To my great surprise, no further progress was made
that day, our forces being ordered into camp at 6 p. m., with a demoralized
and flying enemy only one hour ahead of us.

I left camp the next morning at 7.10 o'clock, at which time our forces
had not yet pushed forward; and feeling convinced that so tardy a
pursuit would certainly be a vain one, I returned to this post with all
dispatch, knowing my services were needed here.

I would respectfully state that the enemy were confident of carrying and
holding Cape Girardeau; that their battle cry was, "Hurrah now for
McNeil!" and that, in their conversations with the peaceful citizens, they
asked if Fayetteville had been attacked, stating that place and the Cape
were to be struck the same time, and that on Sunday, 3d of May next, Price,
with 30,000 men, would attack Jefferson City, after which the forces at
the Cape and that place were to make a combined attack on Saint Louis.

I refrain from giving you the particulars of the battle or the losses on
either side, as competent authority will soon furnish the official report.

I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

R. R. LIVINGTON,
Col. 1st Regt. Nebraska Vol. Infty., Cmdg. Post, Saint Louis, Mo.

Capt. H. C. FILLEBROWN,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen., District of Saint Louis, Mo.

[Inclosure A.]

SPECIAL ORDERS, No. 91., HDQRS. SAINT LOUIS DISTRICT,
Saint Louis, Mo., April 25, 1863.

* * * * * * *

XVIII. Col. R. R. Livingston, First Nebraska Infantry Volunteers, will
proceed to Cape Girardeau, Mo. He will take command of all troops going
down to that point. Upon his arrival he will turn over the troops to the
command of Brig. Gen. John McNeil.

By order of Brig.-Gen. Davidson;

HENRY C. FILLEBROWN,
Assistant Adjutant-Gen.

Source: Official Records
CHAP. XXXIV.] MARMADUKE'S EXPEDITION INTO MISSOURI. PAGE 266-32
[Series I. Vol. 22. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 32.]
Information provided by @east tennessee roots
Nebraska and the Civil War
 
Greetings. I read in your post that Col. Robert Ramsey Livingston of the 1st Nebraska Calvary was stations in the Batesville, AR district during November-December 1863. In my Hawkins family genealogy research I read in Col. Williams Monks Book, "A History of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas" that my great uncle, John Calvin Hawkins, was captured and executed by firing squad in mid December 1863 in the area around Batesville and Izard County under the direction of Col. Livingston and Col. Monks. Do you have or can you direct me to where I might find detailed information about this execution. I've search ed t official reports of the "War of the Rebellion, the National Archives, and Arkansas civil war archives and found no information. Thank you.
 
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